The Payback
by LightCueGo
Summary: When Castiel finds his boyfriend cheating on him, he decides it's time for some revenge and he goes to his best friend Dean for help. Dean agrees to assist Castiel, but their plan for payback takes an unexpected turn.
1. Chapter 1

**One**

Dean extricates himself from the blankets he's wrapped up in on his couch and pauses _The Dark Knight_ when he here's a frantic knock on his front door. Dad and Sammy are out doing some grocery shopping—on a Friday night, what the hell—so there's no one to finally break down and get it themselves while he passive-aggressively sits on the couch and refuses to answer. So Dean makes his way to the front door cursing whoever is on the other side, unless he happened to forget ordering a pizza and now there's a magical pizza delivery person on the other side.

But when Dean opens the door, there is definitely no nice stranger holding a hot pizza. Instead, there's his best friend Castiel Novak, with furiously red eyes that look like they've shed a couple hundred tears and disheveled hair. But Castiel isn't crying anymore. No, now he's just _pissed_. There's a rage in his eyes that Dean has only seen a _very_ few times—when he caught Dean dog-earing one of his books, when his Dad finally did what he'd been working up to for 10 years and left, and that one time in sixth grade when their classmate Jo killed a bee that was buzzing around he head.

But even now there's something different about the pure fury etched across Castiel's face. He doesn't just look irritated, or annoyed, or even pissed off. The eighteen year old looks like he actually might run out into the night and smite the first person he comes across. And _that_ is something that Dean has definitely never seen.

"Dean, let me in," Cas grits out through his teeth as he shoves past Dean in the front door and toward the living room.

"Yeah—oh, okay, doing it yourself, that's cool. Dude, Cas, what's going on?" Dean stutters out as he hastily follows Cas into the house.

Cas turns his furious glare on Dean and Dean nearly—nearly, he definitely did _not _actually—squeaks in fright. Nearly. Though he did definitely flinch a little. Dean's reaction seems to soften Cas a bit, because he then sighs, runs a hand through his hair, and leans back into the couch on which he's perched.

"Well, you know since Michael's been sick for the past few days and hasn't been at school, I was going to drop by his house tonight to surprise him, maybe get some pizza or watch a couple movies or something? Yeah, well, I surprised him all right. But I'm pretty sure he surprised me a whole hell of a lot more."

Dean replies, "Oh, well that's kind of goo—okay, no, not good, bad, _very_ bad. So, bad surprise?"

Cas laughed ruefully as he responds, "Very, very bad, horrible, terrible, excruciatingly painful surprise."

"Dude," Dean says. "What the hell happened?"

"I knocked on his door and when he answered, he didn't even want to let me in. Said he was contagious, didn't want to get me sick. But because of course I'm an idiot, I insisted and pushed my way inside and told him how much I'd missed him and that I was going to order some takeout and that'd I'd brought some DVDs we could watch in his room. And that's when he _really_ started freaking out. He ran ahead of me upstairs and blocked the door to his room and wouldn't let me in, said he _really_ didn't want to get me sick, he'd feel so bad if he did, and that his room was full of his sick germs from him being in there all week.

"I just thought it was really weird. It's never been an issue before, he sat with me for two days straight when I had the flu over winter break. But then I heard a thump inside his room."

"Oh, God," Dean says, immediately knowing exactly where this story was going.

"Yeah. So I shoved him out of the way and opened his door, and there's a random guy I have never seen before in my life just lying in his bed, just waiting for him to come back. He wasn't even wearing any clothes, I saw his _dick,_ Dean, just sitting there waiting for Michael to fucking come back and hop on for a ride!"

The blatant rage is back on Cas's face as he jumps up and starts pacing in front of the couch. Dean has no idea what to do as he stands and watches from the doorway.

"And then the asshole doesn't even have the decency to apologize or cry or freak out over being caught or anything! He just stands there and says 'Castiel, this is Dylan." Castiel, this is Dylan, this is fucking Dylan? What the hell kind of thing is that to say?"

"Yeah," Dean mumbles, "that's, uh, really shitty."

"Yes!" Cas yells. "Yes, it _is_ really shitty! So then he finally goes on to explain that he met Dylan, the _fucking sophomore from Lawrence Community College_ a few weeks ago when he was running on the campus, and they've been hanging out since. Turns out he hasn't been sick the past few days, he was in Kansas City at a music festival with good old _fucking Dylan_!"

"Well what did you do? Did you, like, try to talk to him about it or anything?" Dean asks.

"I punched him in the face," Cas grits out.

Dean is shocked, and completely unsure of what to do with that, so he steers Cas back to the couch and sits down beside him, placing an arm around his shoulders in the process. Castiel finally lets his rage fall to a slow simmer, and the tears start again. Dean feels Cas's shoulders shake under his arm, and he murmurs to his best friend as he rubs comforting circles on Castiel's arm.

"Dean," Castiel begins through sobs. "I just really like him, you know? He was always nice to me—well, until now at least—and he just made me feel wanted and special for once. I really thought we would work."

Dean had to admit he thought the same thing. Castiel and Michael latched onto each other during the first semester of their senior year of high school when Michael moved to Lawrence in the middle of October. Cas was one of the only openly gay students at Lawrence High, and Michael didn't even bother with pretending there was a closet he could try to hide inside when he enrolled. The two found each other in their AP Chemistry class and didn't lose the other for even a second after.

By the end of October, they were dating. By mid-November, they were an official couple. By their night out on Valentine's Day, they were in love. But apparently, by the end of March, they were out of it, at least according to Michael.

"So I'm guessing the punch to the face was your way of breaking up with Michael?" Dean asks.

"Yeah," Cas sniffles, "definitely."

"C'mon, man, don't cry anymore. Yeah, he's a douche, but if he's going to treat you like that, you're better off now. You deserve something better, someone who'll treat you right. Not some asshat who's clearly asking for a kick to the balls," Dean tries to comfort Cas, hoping that he's going about this in a somewhat decent manner.

"Ugh, I wish I could kick him in the balls," Cas replies, surprisingly viciously for someone usually so nonviolent. "I just—I thought I loved him, but now I just really, really hate him, so I don't know if I ever actually did or not. I mean, shouldn't I still love him? Shouldn't I want to work it out, shouldn't I want him back? I _hate_ him for making me question this, your first love is supposed to be good and he just shit all over it. God, I just want to, I don't know, _destroy him!"_

Dean mulls over Cas's speech for a minute, considering. He looks over at his friend, sees the pain shining in his eyes despite the anger written on his face. Dean decides then that there is nothing he wouldn't do to Michael to help make Castiel feel better.

"Well… We… We could. You know, if you wanted to," Dean says hesitantly.

Castiel looks over, brow furrowed in confusion, question all over his face.

"Destroy him?" Cas asks.

"Yeah," Dean replies. "I mean, obviously not kill him or beat him up or hurt him or anything, but… We could definitely get back at him."

Castiel just stares at Dean for a moment, eyebrows scrunched together, before a smile starts spreading slowly over his face. He huffs out a short laugh and runs a hand through his hair, before flashing a triumphant smile directly at Dean.

"You're brilliant, Dean. _That_ is exactly what I need."


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

"Cas, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Dean," Cas hisses as he crawls along the pavement, "might I remind you that this was _your_ idea."

"Well, yeah, revenge was my idea, but I was thinking more like putting Nair in his shampoo or making out with another dude in front of him, not this."

"Both excellent ideas. I'll have to remember them. But in the meantime, _this_ is what we are doing."

Dean groans as he crouches low and follows up the driveway in front of Michael's house. In his hand, Dean carries the pocketknife that his dad gave to him for his thirteenth birthday.

"Okay," Cas whispers as he stops beside Michael's black 2012 Camaro. "I'll keep watch while you slash the tires, then we'll get out of here."

Dean complains, "Remind me again why _I'm_ the one slashing your crazy ex-boyfriend's tires?"

"Because," Cas begins, "someone has to keep watch, it's your pocketknife, and this way I won't technically be lying when I tell Michael that I am absolutely not the person who cut his tires open. Because naturally he'll assume it was me."

"Yeah, and then when you assure him it wasn't you, he'll assume it was me because I'm your best friend!"

"Yeah, well," Cas shrugs, "you're better at lying anyway. Now go on!"

Dean turns and crawls to the nearest tire, grumbling under his breath the entire way. He slips his pocketknife open and is preparing to plunge it into the tire when Cas stops him with a frantic "Dean!"

"What?" Dean demands.

"Remember to only slash three of them," Cas reminds him with an evil grin. "Insurance will cover it if all four are cut. If it's only three, he'll have to pay to replace them himself."

Dean turns back to the tire wondering exactly when Cas turned evil and plunges his knife to its hilt into the tire. He quickly moves around the car, hitting two more before he closes his knife and signals to Cas to get the hell out of dodge. The two run down the driveway, laughing like idiots, and sprint down the street to Dean's 1967 Impala that's waiting for them on the corner. They pile in the front seat, gasping for air, Cas yelling at Dean to start the car and drive, drive, drive! Dean pops the car into gear and slams his foot on the gas, and the tires squeal as they peal down the street and head back to Dean's house.

"Okay," Dean says, drawing a line, "we are definitely not doing anything else illegal."

"Fine, fine," replies Cas. "But you have to admit, that was pretty fun. And I do feel a little better."

Dean just grumbles as he grabs a coke from the fridge and heads back to the living room.

"So," Cas starts, "I've been thinking about what you said. About what we should do to Michael, and I think you're right. I think that him seeing me perfectly happy without him and with someone else would bug him. Especially after he called me this morning trying to apologize. As if I would give him another chance after Mr. College Guy's dick floating out everywhere."

"Alright," replies Dean. "So go out on some dates, find somebody to hang out with. Rub it in his face. Move on and be happy."

"Well that's the thing Dean. We're in the middle of Kansas. Not exactly a lot to choose from in terms of men who are firmly out of the closet. _But_ I do know someone who is into guys and who could believable be involved with me, seeing as we already spend all of our time together anyway," Cas finishes with a sly smirk on his face.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not. I am not going to pretend to date you just to make Michael feel like an asshat. No."

"Oh, come on!" Cas pleads as Dean gets off the couch as starts stalking around the room. "It doesn't have to be for long, only a couple weeks! Just long enough for Michael to feel shitty and for me to rub it in his face a little! It's not like people don't know you're out anyway, after that party at Victor's last year I'm pretty sure everyone knows you're bi."

"No!" Dean yells. "No, it's just weird!"

"Please, come on, please Dean! We don't have to kiss or go on real dates or anything! Just some handholding at school, heavy flirting when he's around! It'll be super low-key, I promise."

Dean fidgets and tries to avoid Castiel's gaze as Cas stares at him with his best set of puppy eyes. Cas knows that Dean can't resist the damn puppy eyes.

"Fine!" Dean explodes. "Fine! But only for three weeks, _tops_, got it? And no lip-locking, no weird, inappropriate touching, nothing that's gonna make this friendship awkward, capische?"

"Absolutely, got it, 300% got it, I promise you won't regret this, Dean, thank you!"

Dean has a feeling he is _definitely_ going to regret this.

Dean picks up Cas on Monday morning, just like every school day, and the two drive to school. They don't really talk on the drive there, don't discuss their plan or what they did with their Sundays, but the second they step out of the car and make their way to the front doors of the school, Castiel grabs Dean's hand.

"Whoa, hey!" Dean exclaims in shock.

"Dean, if this is going to be believable, you have to relax. It's just my hand, not my dick, calm down. If Michael is going to believe we're together, the whole school is going to have to think so, too."

Dean grumbles a little about Cas's "perfect plan," but let's Cas latch onto his hand nonetheless. He threads his fingers through Castiel's and continues onto the school, trying to ignore the stares that he can feel coming from his various classmates. Strangely enough, the only thing he can think while trekking on is that _Huh, Cas's hands are actually pretty soft_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Three**

Throughout the day, Dean can see more and more people staring at him and can hear more and more people whispering about him. He meets Cas between all classes and walks him to his next one with their fingers curled around each other. They sit practically on top of one another at lunch, and when the bell rings at the end of their lunch period, he even allows Castiel to give him a quick peck on the cheek. So Dean really shouldn't be so surprised when Michael finds him during his free period, but alas, there he is staring like an idiot.

"Close your mouth, Dean, you don't want to catch any flies," Michael snarks as he approaches where Dean is sitting on the picnic tables behind the school.

"Michael. What do you want?" Dean manages to hiss out while simultaneously stifling the urge to punch the jerk right in the gut.

"I know that you and Castiel are the ones who ruined my tires. I'm not an idiot, Dean."

"I have no clue what you're talking about, _Michael_," Dean forces out, clearly lying through his teeth. But Dean finds that he really could not care less if Michael knows that he's the one who put a blade through three of his tires.

"Relax, Dean. I'm not here to yell at you about the car. I just want to talk to you about Castiel. Is it true that the two of you are actually dating?"

"Well, we've been walking around school holding hands all day, so does that answer your question? Guess he just realized that there were better things out there for him than you," Dean says. 

"Please," Michael scoffs out with a laugh. "I guarantee that I could have him back in a heartbeat, Winchester. After all, he does _love_ me."

"Loved. He loved you. But not anymore."

"Whatever," Michael retorts. "That's not the point. The point is that I know there's never been anything between the two of you. He was quick to assure me of that when I moved here last semester. So what exactly changed? Did you suddenly decide that you were head over heels for our Castiel?"

"That," Dean grits out, "is absolutely none of your fucking business. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go find _my_ boyfriend who clearly no longer gives a shit about you. And when I find him, I'm gonna give him a nice, long kiss and grab his ass, just 'cause I know it'll piss you off."

Dean, of course, does neither of these things when he finally finds Cas, but he does give a nice, hard punch to the nearest locker.

"Seriously Cas, how did we never realize how big of a dick he is? You should have seen the smug look on his face. The entire time he was talking I felt like he was just taunting me. And I'm pretty sure he thinks that you'll come running back to him the seconds he asks. And I also think that he might suspect we're not actually together," Dean finishes his rant as he and Cas pull up outside Castiel's house.

"Dean, just calm down," Castiel says. "I don't want to go back to Michael, and it's only been a day. He'll believe it soon enough, and he'll feel like an idiot when I don't give him the time of day. Also, when I spread a rumor that the reason we broke up is because he has herpes that he got from someone else."

"Cas," Dean asks, "is that really the best idea?"

"Probably not, but I'm probably gonna do it anyway."

And he did. Three days later, on Thursday at school Dean hears at least four different people whispering about Michael and his increasingly terrifying STD, all by lunch. By the time Dean walked into the cafeteria, herpes had transformed from gonorrhea to chlamydia to full-blown syphilis. Dean shakes his head at high schoolers' idiocy as he sits down at his group's table.

"Hey," he says to Jo and Charlie. "Where's Cas?"

"He's at a yearbook meeting. But shouldn't you know that seeing as you're his 'boyfriend?'" Jo answers.

"Shut it, Jo. You know I'm just helping him out over this Michael thing."

"Right," retorts Charlie. "That's why you've been making increasingly gooier gooey eyes at him every single time you've seen him this week. And why you've started holding his hand even when we're not at school and Michael's not around."

"Geez Charlie, we're just trying to make it believable. Just drop it."

"Make what believable," Benny asks as he joins the group. "Your fake but totally not fake relationship with Cas?"

"That'd be the thing," Jo chirps happily.

"Guys, seriously, I'm just doing him a favor, he's my best friend, he feels shitty, he just wants a little payback. Leave it," Dean snaps.

"Dean," Charlie says softly, "it's okay if you like him. You know, it was bound to happen eventually anyway. I can't believe it took this long honestly."

Dean sighs exasperatedly and rolls his eyes as Jo chimes in, "It's not that big of a deal, Dean. It's just a little crush. It's not shocking that you're kind of getting attached after all the handholding and hugging and stuff. It's kind of normal actually."

"Please guys, can we just drop this?"

"Drop what?" Cas asks as he plops down next to Dean and steals a fry from his plate.

"Nothing, Cas," Dean quickly replies, "we were just talking about plans for the weekend."

"Oh!" Cas nearly shouts, a gleam in his eye. "Well I hear that Michael will be at the show on Saturday night at The Roadhouse to hear that new band play, so I think we should go there. Show off a little, make him a little jealous, and little mad. What do you think?"

"Sounds good, Cas," Dean says with a heavy sigh as he stands up and grabs his tray.

Cas looks at the rest of his friends confusedly. "Well, what's wrong with him?"

Benny just stares at his plate while Charlie rolls her eyes and Jo lets out a soft "idiots."

By Friday afternoon at school, Dean is worried that Charlie, Jo, and Benny are right. By Friday night when Dean and Cas are curled up on Dean's couch watching Star Wars, Dean is convinced they are. Every time Castiel's leg bumps Dean's or they catch each other's eye, Dean's heart starts trying to tear its way out of his chest. Every time Cas says something in that deep, rumbly voice of his, Dean's forehead breaks out into a sweat. And every time Cas stretches and that small strip of skin above his hipbone peeks out beneath his t-shirt, Dean thinks that he might actually be having a stroke.

So when the doorbell rings and Jo and Charlie stroll into the living room, calling Sam to come down from his room and join them as well, Dean can't be more relieved.

"So I was thinking that we should all hang out tomorrow night at The Roadhouse," Jo says as she plops onto the floor in front of the couch. "Since I'll already be there working until 9:00 anyway and Charlie was gonna come hang out after my shift."

Jo's mom Ellen Harvelle owns and runs The Roadhouse, a local bar and diner, and serves the best cheeseburgers and pie in town. She also serves the coldest sarcasm and most stinging backhand Dean's ever felt. Despite her tough love, she's one of the best people Dean knows and has acted as both a mother and friend to both Dean and Sammy for most of their lives.

"What's happening at The Roadhouse?" Sam asks as he lumbers into the living room and flops onto the sofa by Cas.

"A concert. New local band's playing. I hear they're not too bad either. Wanna come?" Charlie asks.

"Sure!"

"Wow, funny how this date turned into a five person thing in only a matter of seconds," Dean grumbles out.

Jo lifts her eyebrow and says, "Six, actually. Benny's coming too. Besides, I didn't really think it would matter seeing as it's a fake date anyway."

"Of course it's fine," Cas intervenes. "Just don't complain if we're doing stuff to make Michael jealous or uncomfortable."

"As long as you don't make us uncomfortable, we're fine," Charlie mumbles under her breath.

Dean resumes playing Star Wars and quickly quiets down the group, and if he lets his hand rest against Cas's for the rest of the movie, no one calls him out on it.

By Saturday evening, Dean is Officially Freaking Out. He's put on at least four different outfits before he remembers that he sees Cas literally every day and he's seen him in literally every piece of clothing he owns. He finally puts on pair of dark jeans, a black t-shirt, an open dark red button down, and his boots. He feels utterly ridiculous for taking so long to dress; and it's not like Sam's taunting is helping.

"Seriously, Dean, you look fine, I promise your date will go well."

"It's not a date," Dean snaps. "Well, not a real one."

"But you want it to be don't you?" Sam asks, because he's a little brother so of course he's going to be annoying.

"No, Sammy, now just drop it."

"Yeah, sure you don't. And don't call me Sammy!" Sam calls as he exits Dean's room.

Dean leaves five minutes later to pick up Cas, leaving Sam to get a ride to The Roadhouse with Charlie. When Cas walks out of his house ad to the car, Dean curses the universe a little, because of course Castiel looks amazing. He's wearing dark, straight-legged jeans and a dark blue button down that Dean is certain will match his eyes perfectly. Dean shifts around his seat uncomfortably as Cas gets in the car. It's going to be a long night.

Dean and Castiel put on the perfect act the entire night. They relax and have some sodas with their friends, dance along with the crowd to the concert, and laugh and have a great time hanging out. When Michael walks in The Roadhouse with his new boyfriend or lover or whatever he is, Dean nonchalantly drapes an arm around Cas, who is sitting next to them in their booth. When Michael glances their way, Dean kisses Cas on the cheek. When Michael has the audacity to come over and say hello, Castiel grabs Dean's hand on the table and interlaces their fingers. And when Michael starts dancing with Mr. Community College in plain sight of Castiel, Dean grabs Cas and drags him to the dance floor, pulling him close into his arms and swaying with him.

Dean puts on the perfect performance all night, brushing Cas's hair out of his face, staring lovingly as Cas talks, and holding his hand like he might actually die if he lets go. Cas even compliments Dean on his acting at the end of the night. There's only one problem: Dean definitely isn't acting anymore. Dammit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Four**

Dean has now been avoiding Castiel for two days—Dean didn't answer his texts on Sunday and did not go to school on Monday, telling his dad that he was sick. So when Castiel showed up on his doorstep at 9:00 Monday night, Dean was definitely not prepared.

"Dean. You've been ignoring me," Castiel says as he pushes his way inside.

"I haven't been ignoring you, I've just been sick," Dean responds.

"You look fine to me."

Cas's jaw is set and Dean can see a slow-burning anger in his eyes. Castiel isn't furious like he was when he showed up at Dean's a week and a half ago; now he's just hurt.

"I don't understand, Dean. Why did you just suddenly stop talking to me?" Castiel asks.

"Look Cas, it's nothing, it's fine. I just think that… That maybe we should stop with the whole "revenge on Michael" thing. I think it's gone far enough. I think he gets the point."

"What?!" Cas exclaims. "No! Not yet! He hasn't even said anything about it to me yet! I want to know his reaction!"

"C'mon Cas, it's been a week, he hasn't said anything, and it's just kind of weird. This isn't like you, man. Just let it go."

"I can't, Dean! He hurt me, don't you get it! I just want him to feel a little of the anger that he caused me. I want to know that I didn't just stand by and let him walk all over me without doing anything about it. Please, Dean, just one more week, and if he doesn't react by then, we can drop it. I promise."

Dean knows that he is going to regret this. He can feel it in every single one of his bones, but because he now apparently has a thing for Cas and would clearly do anything for him, he just can't say no.

"Fine! Fine, Cas. One week. One. And then this game is over."

Cas just beams at Dean and wraps his arms around his friend. As Dean embraces Castiel in return, he can't help but think that if Cas is going to react like this, then helping him out is totally worth it.

Another school week has passed by, and Dean and Jo are sitting in his room on Friday afternoon. Dean, having finally admitted to himself and Jo that maybe, just maybe he has a _little_ crush on Cas, is complaining.

"I was completely fine before all of this started! I didn't have a stupid crush on him, I didn't want to date him and kiss him and cuddle him all the freakin' time, and now every time I see him my heart just freakin' goes into overdrive!"

"Dean," Jo replies, "let's get real. Whether you realized it or not, you totally had a thing for Cas before this whole "pretending to date" thing."

"No, I didn't!" Dean nearly yells.

"Oh, really," Jo responds sarcastically. "Then how come every time I come over here on movie nights, you guys are practically draped across each other? Why do you think you hated Michael so much when he and Cas started dating? Why do you think you hate him so much for hurting Cas? And why in the hell do you think you were so willing to walk around holding Cas's hand everywhere and acting like the perfect boyfriend when you get literally nothing out of it?"

Dean sits and ponders Jo's questions for a minute before the truth hits him in the face like a very rude, very abruptly swung baseball bat.

"Oh my, God. You're right. You're totally right. I totally have a thing for Cas. Why didn't I know?"

"Because," Jo says with an eye roll, "you're an idiot. And so is Cas. Because he totally likes you too and he can't tell that you're sitting in here pining away like a doofus when you could be out there kissing him."

"Jo, I really don't think he likes me, because if you haven't noticed, he's still kind of hung up on the whole Michael thing," Dean retorts.

"Oh, Dean," Jo sighs, "poor, sweet summer child, baby-face Dean. Word of advice: tell him tonight when you go out, okay? I promise, it'll be fine, and you'll be a lot happier with him knowing than just tagging along pretending to be his boyfriend. Especially when you actually _could_ be his boyfriend."

With that, Jo struts out of the room, heading to The Roadhouse for her shift. Dean looks at the clock: 4:30. Still another hour and a half until he has to pick up Cas for their "date" tonight. Cas had somehow gotten wind that Michael and Mr. Community College would be at Purgatory tonight, a local club that actually allowed eighteen year-olds, and had promptly begged Dean to go. Apparently, Dean's recent case of "can't say no" just won't stop.

Dean sits thinking on his bed for a few more minutes before reaching a decision: Jo's right. He can't just sit around pretending to be Cas's boyfriend anymore, he has to do something.

With that in mind, Dean dons his best jeans, a dark green button-down, and goes out to have the best date of his life with his best friend.

Dean and Cas go out for pizza before hitting the club, before their "date" actually starts, and Dean is doing all that he can to signal to Cas that he's totally, 100% into this date. Cas, however, is not getting a single bit of it.

Dean has been holding Cas's hand across the table, has been flirting incessantly, has even tried playing footsie with the guy a couple times, and Castiel has literally been nothing but unaware and stoic.

So it's grumpily and slightly awkwardly that Dean drives to Purgatory and parks his car, grumbling under his breath a bit as they walk to the line at the door. As they wait in line, Cas finally pipes up.

"Dean, are you okay?" he asks. "You seem a bit disgruntled."

Dean sighs, "I'm fine, Cas."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Cas," Dean says, a bit downtrodden. "Let's just have a good time tonight and show Michael what he's missing out on, okay?"

Dean offers Cas a small smile, which he returns gleefully. Michael has been throwing sullen stares at the pairs' way all for the past several days or so. Cas is pretty sure that he's about to his breaking point with Cas and Dean's blatant public flirting and PDA, which is why he was so insistent that they go out to Purgatory tonight.

Cas looks at Dean and says, "I promise that when Michael breaks, it'll be completely worth it."

Dean offers a tight-lipped smile and pulls out his ID as he and Cas reach the front of the line. They get their hands X-ed with a sharpie marker, signaling that they are not yet old enough to drink, and then make their way into the club. The music is infectious, the people wild and mostly drunk, and Dean calms down a bit. There's no way he can't have at least _some_ fun here tonight.

"Come on, Cas," he says, holding out his hand, "let's dance."

Cas smiles and places his hand in Dean's, intertwining their fingers by habit at this point, and let's himself be pulled to the dance floor. Dean let's go of Cas's hand and the two move to the music, facing each other and being jostled by the crowd around them. Dean takes advantage of the close quarters provided by the crowd to bump into Cas as often as possible. He completely forgets about Michael.

Dean realizes that he is in the perfect position to make some more moves. He slowly reaches out and grabs Cas's hand again, moving their bodies closer and closer until their chests are touching. Castiel just smiles and continues dancing, moving to the beat of the music. Dean decides to go for step two and snakes his arms around Cas's waist; his hands slowly detach themselves from Cas's, and twine around his body to rest on his back. Their faces are only a few inches apart now. Dean can feel Cas's breath on his face, can almost _taste_ him, and just as he's finally, _finally_ working up the courage to possibly close those few inches to Cas's lips, the song they're dancing to ends and Cas pulls back with his eyebrows furrowed in question.

Dean curses the song and the DJ and all music in general, but doesn't let his opportunity completely slip away. As a new song starts, Dean grabs Cas's hand and says, "one more song."

But this time, rather than wrapping his arms around Castiel and pulling them chest-to-chest, he turns Castiel around so that Cas's back is facing Dean. Dean then steps into him and molds his chest and stomach to Cas's spine, rests his chin on Cas's shoulder. He hears Cas quietly gasp in a short breath. He can almost feel Castiel's realization that this is more than simply a fake date.

Dean feels Cas's head begin to turn, and he lifts his head from Cas's shoulder to meet his eyes. The two stare at each other on the dance floor, barely moving to the music anymore, and their breath intermingles between them. Dean can _feel_ the electricity flowing between them, can almost already feel Cas's lips on his, and he _finally_ starts moving in towards Cas, closing the barely there space between them. Then, before Dean can capture Cas's two perfect, rosy, chapped lips:

"Hello, Castiel."

Cas jerks away from Dean, jumping as though he's been shocked, and stares at Michael.

"Michael," Castiel says, slightly out of breath.

"How are you this evening, Castiel?" Michael asks with a quirked eyebrow and a slight smirk.

"I'm doing just fine, thank you. Where's your boyfriend?" Cas asks, almost sneering. Dean thinks it's a good look on him.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend. Dylan and I are completely over, Castiel. That's actually why I came here tonight. I'd heard you'd be here and I was hoping we could talk."

"Talk," Cas repeats stoically, no emotion at all in his voice. "Talk about what?"

"Well," Michael responds," about us, of course."

Dean scoffs and looks at Michael like he's crazy. Of course Cas doesn't want to talk, of course Cas doesn't want to work it out, of course Cas doesn't want there to be an "us." Dean's just about to tell Michael exactly where he can shove his "discussion" when Cas opens his mouth first instead.

"Okay."

"Okay? _Okay?" _Dean shouts. "Are you serious, Cas? You do remember that this is the dick that cheated on you, right? The one that you literally caught with another dude in his bed? That asshole, you remember, right?"

"Of course, I remember Dean, we are merely going to have a discussion," Cas assures him in a calm voice.

"Yeah, well, discuss this," Dean huffs out, pushing past Cas and Michael. "I'm done. I'm leaving. See you whenever."

With that Dean storms off the dance floor toward the front of the club, leaving Michael and Cas standing alone. Dean doesn't notice Cas's confused gaze following him out of the club. He doesn't notice Michael smirk after him in triumph. Nor does he notice Charlie standing off to the side with Benny, both of them having witnessed the whole encounter.

Rather, he notices the stinging of his eyes as he fights back angry tears, he notices the ache in his chest where it feels like someone shoved his heart into a trash compactor, and he noticed his fingers clenched around his car keys. Dean is angry, he's pissed even, but mostly he's just hurt. He's done so much for Cas in just the past two weeks alone, but now, as soon as Michael asks, Cas is running back to him. Dean feels like he doesn't even exist as all.

Charlie walks to the bar where Castiel is sitting talking to Michael and grabs him by his ear.

"Ow, ow, OW!" Cas yells as Charlie drags him away from the bar. "What the hell, Charlie?"

"You," Charlie hisses out through her clenched teeth, "are an incomprehensibly, profoundly large idiot."


	5. Chapter 5

**Five**

"God, Charlie, can you please stop hitting me like that?" Cas shouts after Charlie smacks him across the arm for the fourth time.

"Yeah, well, you deserve it!" she screams.

"She's kind of right, brother," Benny chimes in. "You kind of do deserve it."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cas asks. "Why do I deserve this?"

"Because!" Charlie screams. "Michael _cheated_ on you and now you're just going right back to him! You just totally ditched Dean for him! Dean, your best friend, the guy who cares for you more than probably anyone else in the world, and you just totally chose that asshat over him!"

"I didn't choose anyone over Dean!" Cas yells back. "I'm not going back to Michael, I don't want to be with him, he's a jerk and I could care less about him, and if you'd bothered to ask, you'd know that that's exactly what I was telling him at the bar. Although, I do think my speech to him contained less words like "jerk" and more words like "bastard" and "fuck off."

"Oh. Well… Oh," Charlie says, her anger simmering away.

"Wait, so… If that's what you were telling Michael, then why did Dean storm out?" Benny asks.

"I have no idea," Castiel responds. "He didn't wait to see what I was telling Michael either. Michael asked me to talk, Dean exploded on him, and when I told Michael I'd talk to him, Dean just got mad and left."

"Well of course he got mad, you stupid, stupid man!" Charlie exclaims. "You just readily agree to run off and talk to your ex-boyfriend, _who cheated on you_, when you're supposed to be on a date with Dean, of course he's going to be mad!"

"But we weren't even on a real date. He's just helping me get back at Michael. And it worked, too," Cas responds a bit smugly.

"Cas, seriously, there is no way you can actually be this dumb. This was not a fake date. I know it, Jo knows it, Benny knows it, even freakin' Dean knows it. Trust me, the guy likes you. You can't look me in the eye and tell me that the show you two put on out on the dance floor was for Michael. You didn't even know he was here yet."

Cas's eyebrows draw together and he tilts his head to the side. Now that he thinks about it, Dean _has _been acting strange all night. Holding his hand at the restaurant, waggling his eyebrows along to what Cas now suspects were flirtations, dancing so closely. Cas had just thought that Dean was extremely committed to the bit, determined to make Michael feel like shit. But Castiel had felt an electricity between them on the dance floor, right before Michael had interrupted. For a second, he even thought that they might kiss—but then he'd quickly shaken if off as just his imagination after Michael interrupted. Because Dean didn't like him like that, right? They were just friends, weren't they?

"Dean… likes me?" Castiel asks, his head still tilted to the left.

"Oh. My. God." Charlie sighs out. "You two. You two are the _biggest_ goddamn idiots I've ever known."

As soon as Dean arrives home, he storms past his brother and dad who are in front of the television in the living room, and barricades himself in his room. He flops onto his bed without bothering to remove his shoes and stares at the ceiling. He can't even begin to fathom his anger.

After everything that Dean and Cas have been through together, he can't comprehend that he would choose Michael again, after the bastard cheated on him. Dean cannot imagine why Cas would choose that over him, even as just his best friend and not a boyfriend. Dean knows that they weren't actually dating, but something, _something _was about to happen on that dance floor tonight. He knows that he wasn't the only one who felt it; he could see it in Castiel's eyes. They'd almost _kissed_ for crying out loud.

Dean pulls his pillow above his head and buries his face in it; he screams until his throat hurts. He lies on his bed, imagining what Cas is doing now. He's probably laughing at one of Michael's stupid jokes, or holding Michael's hand when he should be holding Dean's. Maybe he's even kissing the stupid asshole.

Dean doesn't know when he falls asleep, or how long he's been that way when he hears a knock on his bedroom door. He rolls over so that his back is facing the door.

"Go away," he calls.

"Dean," Cas's voice says hesitantly, "let me in."

Dean springs off the bed and stomps to the door with grand plans to really lay it out on Cas. He's yell at him, scream out his rage, possibly even land a punch or two. He's going to shout at Cas that he feels betrayed, that he doesn't understand, that he really just wants to put Nair in _Cas's_ shampoo, not Michael's. But the second Dean opens his bedroom door, all the fight leaves him. He sees Cas standing in the doorway, and he just can't be angry anymore. His shoulders fall, he exhales heavily, and he steps aside.

"What do you want, Cas?" Dean asks tiredly.

"I… I just… I wanted to talk to you. About Michael."

"Michael," Dean says with a scoff. "What about him? Wanna tell me how you went running right back? Wanna tell me that he's great, that he just made a mistake, all that jazz?"

"No," Cas replies with an expressionless face. "I wanted to tell you about how I told him to fuck off and how I don't want to see him anymore. And how I told him he's an asshole for cheating on me. And that he doesn't deserve me, because I know I'm better than that. I know. I deserve better than him. I deserve someone better, someone who will care for me and stay loyal to me and do anything for me."

Well that wasn't at all what Dean was expecting.

"Well. Uhm. Well, uh. Yeah. You do deserve that."

"God, you really are an idiot," Cas says, stepping forward. "I deserve _you_."

And then Dean's world stops turning and focuses on nothing but how Cas is stepping closer and closer, grabbing Dean's face and pulling him closer. Cas is only a foot away, a few inches away, only a hair's breadth away, and now Dean can feel Cas's lips ghosting over his own. Cas moves no further, letting Dean decide what to do, whether to really kiss him or pull away.

A hundred moments flash before Dean in that moment. He sees his first meeting with Cas, when they were only in kindergarten, playing in the sandbox and racing to the swings. He sees their first day of middle school, walking into the enormous hallways together, hunting down their lockers. He sees their junior prom, both going with dates they didn't really like, then ditching them both halfway through to hang out with each other. He sees the first time they got drunk, the first time Dean drove a car without his dad, their first failed tests and all of their more numerous victories. Dean literally can't remember a single big moment in his life that Cas was not around for.

Then he sees the hundreds of little moments of the past two weeks. All of the hand holding and hugging and movie watching and "dating," all of the weird cuddles and awkward flirtations and every single moment of jealousy that Dean had for Michael.

Dean sees all of this in a short second and doesn't even begin to question what his decision will be. With absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, Dean wraps his arms firmly around Cas's waist and seals their mouths together, writing every memory he's recalling with his lips onto Cas's own. Every tear they've shed together, every laugh they shared, every failure and triumph, every late night phone call and early morning text is whispered between the two as their lips move in tandem in the middle of Dean's bedroom.

And Dean can't but think that this is perfect. Despite the fact that it took them twelve years to get here, despite the fact that it took Cas dating another boy and being cheated on, despite the fact that they had to pretend to date for two weeks to actually start dating, Dean still thinks that it's absolutely perfect. And Cas couldn't agree more.

Dean pulls away with a smile stretched across his face.

"Well, maybe not _that_ big of an idiot," he says as he leans down to kiss Cas once more.

Dean and Cas lie in Dean's bed talking and kissing for hours, and Cas eventually falls asleep wrapped in Dean's arms. Dean lies awake for a while longer, staring at the ceiling with the most ridiculous of smiles on his face. Though Michael really hurt Cas and seriously pissed off Dean, he can't help but thank Michael whole-heartedly for being such a massive, shitty douche canoe.


End file.
